Three Mile Pilot – The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten

There is a top-notch notion that the best parts of music are the meshing of sounds and diversifying them. On Three Mile Pilot’s The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten, the opening chug of angular rock prefaces the album into some sort of ancient time code. Everything feels like the late 90s, with the alternative rock station in the background. It’s a modern sound, still, but they’re grounded in their ability at being able to encapsulate a beam of energy with trademark tradition. For every groove that opener “Battle” causes, it’s always followed up with some kind of brandished riff – The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten was definitely chosen for this reason exact.

Music is still able to be turned upside down and into something new, it just needs a culture to survive in. The downpour of gloom on “Grey Clouds” cascades the barricade with startlingly solid results and positioned at a moment where everything simply sways from side to side, the sequencing couldn’t be better. The smooth blend of reverb and stormy guitar plays a large role on songs like “Still Alive.” They incorporate entirely fascinating ideas that always permeate a strong sense of drive. “I’m leaving today, I cannot stay,” is the stance that Three Mile Pilot take, even when it’s “in disgrace.” These sorts of instances seem to just drift by and suddenly, there’s been another smooth (for lack of a better word) transition into something singularly fresh. And those kinds of transitions can happen in the most opportune of unsteadiness as well, like on something as turbulent as “Planets.” A summer feel that builds an impressive guitar melody and fuses it with sing-a-long lyrics like “Cut me down and mess me up. Oh yes, you’ve done it again,” is great for any kind of party setting.

Topics of self-deprecation, an attitude of not being accepted and being left to rot, circulate the album’s thematic songs. While each stands out for separate reasons, there is a strong story at the core of each song. Through variable shifts in dynamics and tone, the band enlists the help of varied instrumentation to draw an even larger-than-normal sound. A song like “What I Lose” almost sounds like the kind of stuff Interpol would be making had they continued on an indie label throughout. The guitar melody sparkles with a glistening sheen and the vocals are buried in a deep mist of gripping keyboards. It makes the subject matter all the more easier to understand and in turn, swallow but mostly, it provides a wealthy amount of purpose and determination.

And finally, there is exaltation in the ultimate release as Pall Jenkins sings “You push and pull away” on “What’s in the Air.” It’s about moving forward and striving towards a greater good and with a menacing guitar that creeps in from the sides; it’s an absolutely terrific way to piece everything together. Intentional or not, The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten conjures up nostalgic moments with its overall demeanor. It’s truly enabled Three Mile Pilot to possess an inquisitively solid sound and in the end, achieve the goal of fusing such memorable music together.